Fast Takes - Dr. B. Sandroff on virtual reality’s role in managing cognitive deficits in multiple sclerosis-Ep42
KesslerFoundation.org

BANKS-SMITH: 00:04 This is Kessler Foundation's Fast Takes, research that changes lives. And I'm your host, Joan Bank Smith. In this episode, Dr. Brian Sandroff, senior research scientist in our
Center for Neuropsychology and Neuroscience Research, talks about his peerreviewed article, Developing the Rationale for Including Virtual Reality and Cognitive
Rehabilitation and Exercise Training Approaches for Managing Cognitive Dysfunction
in MS, published in April 2022 in a journal Neurosci. Dr. Sandroff, can you share with
us the main takeaways of this study?

BRIAN SANDROFF: 00:41
This was a review paper that sought to, like the title says, develop the rationale for
why virtual reality might be an advantageous approach for enhancing the effects of
cognitive rehabilitation and exercise training for improving cognition in persons with
MS. And the main takeaways are that virtual reality might be particularly
advantageous to increase the amount of multi-sensory input and real-world relevance
to enhance the effects of cognitive rehabilitation, as well as doing the same for
exercise training, but also allowing for exercise trials to incorporate elements of
cognitive rehabilitation in the exercise trial through virtual reality to promote stronger
cognitive improvements in those with MS.

BANKS-SMITH 01:31 And what is the impact and next implications of this publication to the field?

SANDROFF 01:36 The publication sought to provide a research map, so to speak, for how future
research can go about implementing virtual reality in cognitive rehab and exercise
training paradigms. And we present a framework for anybody interested in the field
to test to see if we really can induce larger cognitive improvements in people who
present with MS-related cognitive impairment.

BANKS-SMITH 02:06 Learn more about Dr. Sandroff, the Center for Neuropsychology and Neuroscience
Research, and his peer-reviewed article in the program notes. Tuned into our podcast
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Listen to us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, SoundCloud, or wherever you get your
podcasts. This podcast was recorded remotely on May 4th, 2022, and was edited and
produced by Joan Bank Smith, creative producer for Kessler Foundation.